The MAV Studio Shed

By Jonny
28 / Feb / 2018

Sheds aren't just to a place to store your wheelbarrow! With a list of Quay Timber products, Christos Mavridis has managed to construct a full functional garden studio. The impressively built structure needed to be completely insulated and soundproofed to allowing him to work in the perfect recording envirionment.

Mav Srudios

Food also always available in the MAV Studio, where they offer freshly made wraps, sandwiches and snacks made by Christos' mothers' business 'Roula's Kitchen', with its' a five star food hygiene certificate! Any musical client can expect a quality catering win the studio.

MAV Studios UK offer toilet, kitchen and lounge area facilities. There is a free parking access right outside our premises enough to accommodate three family sized cars. It is right next to the motorway which connects North and South. 5 minutes from the Newcastle international airport and 7 minutes to metro center! We have a 24 hour Tesco Express just minutes (Kingston park, literally next exit) and we are open Monday to Friday 24 hours and weekends from 11am until 11pm.

Christos has provided all the information about his recording services, along with a comprehensive account of the materials he has used to build his professional studio below:

Base

Treated Carcassing wood was used for the base frame and was then covered with 1.2mm of heavy duty membrane to separate the base from the floor so no air, mould etc. could penetrate it.

Floor Base

Once the base was complete, work on the floor started using C16 carcassing. This was then covered all floor with Cylotex 50mm thick boards to achieve excellent thermal insulation as well as acoustic insulation (so the music can be cranked up loud music without disturbing the neighbors!)

Then the edges were sealed with expanding foam. 18mm OSB boards were added last.

Walls

The structure for the walls was constructed using the same materials as the floor base. C16 for the skeleton of the structure, Cylotex boards filled in walls were started by using the exact same materials and process, and 12mm plywood were applied to the exterior. The Cylotex insulation boards were then applied and sealed with expanding foam as normal.

Exterior

Cladding boards from Quay Timber's extensive range were used to form the exterior shell of the studio and finished for waterproofing and drainage.

Interior

12mm plasterboards fixed to the interior wall using drywall screws after cutting away any of the excess expanding foam on all walls and ceiling.

Ceiling

C16 to build the first layer of the ceiling, achieving the perfectly square ceiling for ideal acoustics. This layer was then sealed with Cylotex boards and expanding foam. After this, the second layer was added on a slight angle, this meant that the rainwater would drain away from the neighbours garden and onto Christos' wifes' plants (Whis worked best for for everyone!) The ceiling was then sealed with a layer with the OSB boards.

Roof

Mastic liquid sealnant was applied to the whole roof. Then Eco Slate roof tiles were attached using galvanized nails (these came with 75 years of guarantee for leaks so why not). for extra measure, evostick waterproof exterior silicon was used seal all joints (Christos builds things to last!). Finally a second layer of mastic was applied to the whole roof along with a heavy duty of turf making for four levels of roofing. Side boards were added for aesthetics to make the secure structure look the business too. Job done!

Electrics

Christos called in his best electricians to install all the wiring. This took place during the framing stage, before even adding the Cylotex boards. He added a dedicated CDR on the electric board inside the house so the studio has its own power source, making it extremely, independent and super powerful!

Door

I purchased a double glazed uPVC door excellent quality and offers perfect thermal and acoustic insulation! The door was fitted and sealed with waterproof silicon on both interior and exterior.

Flooring

Thick dark grey carpet was laid to achieve more thermal conduction and better acoustics. And a small area of super gloss laminate for producer's chair to slide easier. Added skirting boards in order to push the carpet towards the grippers.

Decoration

We used high quality light grey paint for the three walls and tirquese for the front wall. Added a beautiful piece of wall paper to match the pre-envisioned design. Strip lights were attached across the whole ceiling and covered with an attractive white transparent ceiling mould to create a nice smooth lighting effect. The colours can be adjusted to suit the vibe of whatever music Christos happens to be working on!

Additional Acoustic Treatment

A pair of thick curtains were hung on the door to prevent any sound waves from reverberating off the glass. The entire room was covered with high quality acoustic foam boards and bass traps were added to the corners to ensure the best possible audio quality. Each board was placed in a carefully considered spot to achieve the perfect tuning for the room.

Adding Furniture and Equipment

Finally Christos added all the studio gear, a sofa bed for his clients to chill and a small fridge where clients can enjoy some nice chilled drinks (including Christos' local wine from his home country of Greece!).

Christos' Bio

Christos has an educational background in Music Technology, also achieving a Masters' Degree in Acoustics, giving him vital knowledge in acousitc construction of structures ranging from music venues, converted lofts, home theatres/cinemas, churches/temples, and garden offices such as his own.

Below he explains how he got to where he is, and it makes for good reading!

"I have a vast experience in the music production industry. I first startedy music education at 6, studying classical piano. Then Started a band at 9 years old where my we won the first award in School Wave festival in Greece. At the year of 12 my parents decided to send me to a special Music School where basic education was being taught but every single teacher was a musician as well. For example I remember our maths teacher was an excellent piano player. And our history teacher amazing flute player. That specific school was very different from others, the day was starting at 6:30am when the bus was coming to pick us up and reaching the school at 7:45. We had the basic education for the first 5 hours then lunch and then until 5pm music ONLY! I had the best 6 years of education there. At the age of 16 I was involved in my first love concerts as an engineer! Learning to mix live sound and produce recordings! Took only 3 months to master live sound and I was offered a job contract to one of the biggest PA companies in Greece, where I worked as stage engineer for over 40 bands within the summer. After that I was promoted to lead sound engineer and organized the European Day festival where 50+ bands from all over the EU came to perform! At the age of 21 I left Greece due to an accident I had at work, used to work for the Greek police force on the side, (been shot literally, come and I'll show you my marks from the bullets haha). I decided to quit my work with the police as I felt threatened and I moved to England to pursue my career in music. Had to start all the way from the beginning. Applied for a bachelor's degree in Teeside University where I dropped out (due to low level of education material and also tutor knowledge was wasting my time) and then continued my education online by attending private seminars. Finally I did my masters in an online university in the USA who specializes in Acoustics and since I was pretty familiar with power tools and stuff, I decided to combine both skills! After I finished my course I started my own construction company in Newcastle and got involved into many amazing projects with wonderful people! In the meantime I was working as a freelance with Pixar and Disney in the USA and keeping my producing skills active. At the age of 25 got married and had a kid, music was making enough alongside my construction company and was happy until a guy decided to overtake several cars on the opposite lane and crash our care on our lane. After having this heading collision back to 26th December 2014 both me and my wife suffered multiple fractures. Broke my Lumpur, a few ribs and had muscle damage on my left arm. NHS failed to treat us so we decided to move to Switzerland for a while to get treated. We moved to Switzerland in 2015, lived there for almost 3 years. Got the best treatment possible! Since i had the car accident I had to close down the construction company and also stop working for the music industry. I was so sad of not being able don't something,anything. However, in September 2016 I met a wonderful man who is a film maker in Italy and had a chat about music etc. We got involved in a project and we worked together. We instantly became best match for each other and started working on his film projects. He is also a pianist and invited me to his group to play as a special guest to one of their live concerts! We all loved it, since then I became their personal producer and live sound engineer! After my wife decided she wanted to come back to the UK, me and our son we followed her and here we are!"